G.K. Chesterton quote: on wine
The dipsomaniac and the abstainer are not only both mistaken, but they both make the same mistake. They both regard wine as a drug and not as a drink.
Comment: I can't verify that it is a G.K. Chesterton quote but looks like he cited it here.
Why (and How) I Drink
Excerpt:
During my formative-drinking years, when alcohol was still a relative novelty, I had something that many of my harder-drinking friends did not: parents who demonstrated a responsible relationship with alcohol. My father and sometimes my mother would crack a cold beer on hot days, and wine was regularly served at dinner on weekends and special occasions to everyone including the kids. They kept a decently stocked liquor cabinet, but usually only opened it for drop-by guests and the occasional dinner party, which were celebrated in good cheer but were seldom if ever followed by awkward phone calls the next day.
This open yet modest approach to alcohol was in contrast to the paths taken by the families of some friends and neighbors, whose habits ranged from over-indulgent to abstemious and were sometimes an odd mix of the two: it was not lost on me during my secular Bible Belt upbringing that some of my hardest-drinking friends – whose relationships with booze were often of the vomit-in-the-shrubbery, loss-of-all-personal-control variety – were from religious homes in which alcohol was seldom if ever served.
Comment: My parents drinking was like the authors: very rarely! To my Christian teetoalling brothers, I am not advocating drinking! There appears to be three Christian views on drinking: 1.) Abstinence (prevalent Baptist view); 2.) Moderation; 3.) Prohibition. My view is as follows: 1.) it is clear that drunkenness is sin (Galatians 5:21, Ephesians 5:18, and other verses! 2.) it is doubtful that Jesus turned water into grape juice (John 2) (if I am right about this, there is an application there!); 3.) The Christian should eschew activity that would cause another brother to stumble (Romans 14:21); 4.) It is possible to be a moderationist in theory but an abstainer in practice (see Romans 14:21 in previous point).
Good article. I have a friend from work who brews beer. I have learned quite a bit about alcohol, specifically beer. He enters his brew into competitions. Its amazing all the things that get tested on this.
ReplyDeleteI have some of the same thoughts that you do on alcohol consumption. I am definitely moderate in my approach, although I hardly drink. I have at least one rule that I will always follow whenever I drink, no matter how much, nor the toxicity. I never drive after drinking. I never want to get in an accident and have the thought that it may have been avoided if I hadn't drunk.
But for the most part, I hardly ever drink. A glass of wine very rare at home with my wife. And a beer at dinner when traveling for work. Call it whatever you will, but I do the beer thing more so that I do not look odd amongst coworkers. I don't think I would ever buy alcohol at a restaurant if I had to buy because it is way to expense. I do not believe abstaining from drinking purely to 'show' there is a difference between a Christian and everyone else is a correct view. Then the unregenerate has an improper view of Christianity. So really, that is deceiving to abstain. Of course, if you abstain and say it is not because you think it is wrong, but b/c you don't like the taste or whatever, that is a different story.